Aging & Society: Eighth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

This current PhD project focuses on Chinese older academics who are also family carers. This research has been investigating what factors influence older academics’ life and career trajectories in China, how they manage major turning points in their life course, and how they are linked to the Chinese environment, based on the Life-Course model. Life-Course is a Western model that has been indubitably popular applied in social science studies. However, little research has studied the Life-Course in China. Therefore one of the research contributions is to apply Life-Course to the Chinese context. Additionally, this research aims to synthesise Life-Course model with sociological concept of structure and agency in order to use theoretical framework to thoroughly understand the sophisticated environment that Chinese older people/caregivers are facing and the logic behind the relationship between older people and the vast changing Chinese environment. More importantly, this research adds knowledge of family caring responsibilities to the Life-Course model and Chinese ageing societies. Family caring responsibilities has been one of the most distinctive issues in the Chinese culture. Above all, this research raises understanding of active ageing research in China. China is developing with a rate speed of ageing, which will be more stunning than other countries in the world due to huge population and distinctive One Child Policy. This research, conducted a case study with thirty-five qualitative biographical interviews, offers findings sorted out and supported by the Life-Course theory.